


As the Days Go By

by ErisedSubrocs



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Albus Severus Potter - Freeform, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Scorpius Malfoy - Freeform, Unrequited Love, Valentine's Day, albus potter - Freeform, scorpius hyperion malfoy - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 11:14:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10436430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErisedSubrocs/pseuds/ErisedSubrocs
Summary: With Valentine’s Day fast approaching, Albus makes the decision to risk everything and tell Scorpius his biggest secret yet. However, untimely complications arise, putting Albus’s plan out of action and steering him down a dangerous path of pain and longing.Scorpius continues to prove why he is the best friend a person could possibly have.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to @autumnhearth for not only being my fantastic beta once again, but also for supporting me as I delved into this new area of writing.
> 
> This story is separate from my Holiday series.

**7 Days**

 

Albus Potter fell heavily onto his four-poster bed in the Slytherin fifth year boys’ dormitory, his body curled up in a combination of anger and frustration.  Valentine’s Day was all well and good for some people, he thought bitterly, punching the pillow viciously. Some people were lucky enough to find it easy, fun, enjoyable, even wish-fulfilling. Some people were _normal_ enough to be able to take a person they cared for out for the day. Albus on the other hand, was not normal, was not lucky, and was most certainly not enjoying himself.  He delivered a few more blows to the condemned pillow before screwing his eyes shut and counting to ten. 

Letting out a long sigh of air, he slowly uncurled himself and sat up, straightening his robes carefully. Scorpius had stayed behind to talk to Professor McGonagall about a particular type of Switching Spell, which Albus had viewed as a perfect opportunity to let out some of his pent-up emotions with some long overdue sulking. Despite how brief his period of solitude had been, he felt it had helped to a degree; that is, until Scorpius walked into the room.

Albus stiffened as his best friend entered, softly closing the door behind himself. His heartbeat quickened and he felt his hands instantly grow sweaty. He cursed himself inwardly, hating that he had no control, and hating the way these feelings made him hurt in so many ways.

“Hey Albus!” Scorpius sang, jumping onto his own bed and flopping down dramatically. When Albus, still partially paralysed, didn’t respond, Scorpius sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “Are you okay?”

Albus struggled to reply, finally managing, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just – tired…”

Scorpius looked concerned, but nodded anyway. “Me too, actually. I knew fifth year was going to be intense but this is mega-intense, especially Transfiguration. Transfiguration has to be Giga-Intense at least! And then on top of all of that there’s Valentine’s Day! I still don’t think I’m going to be taking anyone, seeing as there’s only a week left, and I think it takes slightly longer than that to find true love-”

Scorpius hesitated, then asked, “Are you taking anyone?”

Albus looked up and met Scorpius’s eyes, swallowing. “I- I mean – no. No, I don’t think so.”  
He cursed himself again, aware how stupid it had sounded, and aware of the fact he had just admitted defeat to himself. He knew exactly who he’d like to ask out, knew exactly who it was that made his stomach hurt with longing every time they were together. And they were together a lot, him and Scorpius. They were best friends after all, and Albus didn’t know if being near Scorpius so often was good or bad for him. He felt reasonably confident in his ability to hide his feelings from Scorpius. If anything, his ability to keep his feelings closeted was what he felt most confident in. He had had plenty of practice after all, having decided last year to not tell anyone that he was gay.

Scorpius frowned very slightly, before grinning broadly. “Oh well! We can go into Hogsmeade on the 14th as fellow bachelors.” He bent forward into a ridiculous sitting-down bow, before flopping backwards onto the bed again.

Albus forced a smile, which became genuine as Scorpius’s stomach gave a very audible rumble.

“Dinner time, I think,” he said.

“Yes!” replied Scorpius, jumping to his feet and following Albus towards the dormitory door. “And Albus, it’s Friday today, which means-“ He performed a drumroll on Albus’s back as they walked down the spiral staircase “-Treacle tart!”

Albus turned and began to walk backwards down the stairs, so that he could laugh up at Scorpius’s eager face. “Trust you to only think of the dessert,” he said fondly. “I’m thinking of the roast chicken and potatoes…”

They continued their banter as they walked, without haste, towards the Great Hall, and Albus almost forgot about being worried, and about the impending decision he would soon have to make.

 

**5 Days**

 

He was going to tell Scorpius. Tonight. Albus Potter was going to tell Scorpius Malfoy that he loved him, and that he would like to take him on an _actual date_ for Valentine’s Day.

Albus Potter was also terrified. He was more terrified than he had ever been in his entire life, including during the events of last year. He knew in that moment that if it would make telling Scorpius easier, he would gladly fight Delphi three times over, but he also knew that he had to do it. He kept telling himself over and over that it would be worse for him if he kept it bottled up. He kept trying to reassure himself by going over the times that Scorpius had possibly indicated that he may feel the same way. His preoccupation clearly showed during his classes, owing to the fact that he was asked to pay attention on six separate occasions.

Albus decided to visit the Owlery before going to lunch, and asked Scorpius to save him some soup. Scorpius looked confused, but agreed, heading down to the Great Hall alone whilst Albus walked towards the tower housing the multitudes of owls residing at Hogwarts. He needed time to think over exactly what he was going to say, plan it word for word, because he knew when the time came he would most certainly not have the ability to construct a coherent sentence.

He entered the large, airy room filled with resting owls and sat down on the window sill, listening to the soft hoots drifting down to him. They knew him well, for Albus’s favourite place to visit when he needed to think was the Owlery, and he had to think a lot, especially since his feelings for Scorpius had evolved beyond friendship. 

He took in a deep breath of the crisp air that was blowing gently through the open tower and held out his arms, waiting. After a few moments, his own tawny owl flew down from her perch and landed on his upper forearm. Before long, seven more followed, landing on his arms, shoulders and knees. Scorpius’s eagle owl took up his usual place on Albus’s right shoulder, gently nibbling at his hair.

Albus closed his eyes, focusing on the comforting weight of his companions, and began to work on his script, comforted by the thought that there was nothing here that could add to his confusion and trepidation.

*******

After twenty minutes of detached thinking, Albus concluded that his speech was as planned as it was going to get. After ensuring he gave each of the eight owls perched on him an equally affectionate goodbye he stood up, carefully brushing the feathers off his robes before hurrying down to the Great Hall.

True to his word, Scorpius had saved him a bowl of soup and a stack of toast, as well as a chair on his left. Albus’s stomach gave its customary swoop followed by a cramp of longing as he sat down beside Scorpius. He waited until he was sure he could speak normally, before answering Scorpius’s exuberant “Hi!”.

In between hurried mouthfuls of soup and toast, Albus took in Scorpius’s radiant expression and excited fidgeting. “What’s got you so worked up Scorp?”

“Albus!” he squeaked in response.

“Yes?”

“Guess what?”

“What?” asked Albus, with increasing bewilderment.

“I- You were wrong! I was first! I’ve got- I’m going- I was first!”

Scorpius was practically bouncing up and down on his chair now, hands drawn up into his sleeves and clutching the collar of his robes.

“Scorpius, what are you talking about? What do you mean you were first?”

“You said you’d be first to get a girlfriend, remember!”

Albus blinked, taking several moments to process what Scorpius had said.  A horrible feeling began to settle in the pit of his stomach. “What do you mean?” he said in barely more than a whisper.

“I just got asked out! For Valentine’s Day! By Georgia Evett from Ravenclaw!”

Albus swallowed thickly. “What- what did you say to her?”

“YES!” squeaked Scorpius. “Well, I hope I said it in a more refined manner, but I said yes of course! Georgia asked me out and I said yes! Have you seen how pretty and nice and clever she is Albus?”

Albus blinked again, the feeling in his stomach now awfully heavy. “No, I can’t say I have,” he managed. “Congratulations mate, you deserve someone nice.” His voice sounded strange, as though it was coming from a long way away.

“Thank you!” beamed Scorpius. He looked up at the clock and noted the time. “I have to go to Arithmancy, I’ll meet you in the common room for our study period.”

“Actually Scorp, I said I’d study with Lily today,” Albus found himself saying, though he had made no such plans. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh, okay,” replied Scorpius, looking a little hurt. “I’ll see you afterwards then.”

“Yeah, okay,” said Albus, picking up his bag and returning the piece of toast he had been holding back to its plate, where it promptly vanished. The food he had eaten now felt like wet concrete that was slowly setting.

***

As Scorpius climbed the staircase with his Arithmancy classmates, and the rest of the Slytherin fifth years walked towards the Divination tower, Albus made a beeline for the staircase descending down to the dungeons, breaking into a clumsy run as he neared the common room. There were three seventh years sitting in the armchairs by the window, and they shot him questioning looks as he hurriedly walked towards the spiral staircase leading up to the dormitory. 

He flung himself onto his bed, fingers tangled painfully in his hair, and curled in on himself, making himself as small as possible. There were no tears, just pain, hurt, anger and more pain. The fact that the image of Scorpius’s ecstatic face was etched across his mind didn’t help matters. There was simply no escaping the reality of how much his best friend meant to him, and how much it hurt when any chances he had of developing a romantic relationship with Scorpius were smashed to pieces in an instant.

The tears did start to come then. They came thick and fast, soaking his hair and pillow as he sobbed. This was not the same crying that he had done when he was three and James had spilled water on his newly completed picture of Harry. This was not the same crying that he had done when Scorpius was being tortured by Delphi in the Triwizard maze. Albus realised as he lay there shaking and sobbing that in fact, this was closest to the crying he had done when Harry had said those horrible words to him last year. It was the crying reserved for the deepest of injuries, the most painful of wounds.

He cried until there was nothing left, and after that he simply lay there, thinking about what would happen now.

 

**3 Days**

 

In the time after his afternoon in the dormitory, Albus had started doing what he did best: hiding his feelings and pain, keeping them confined inside his mind. This left Albus with nothing to display to the public, and he therefore appeared to revert to the Albus that had entered Hogwarts four years ago. He became closed off, inexpressive, and detached from everyone and everything he interacted with.

On the inside however, there was a civil war raging that was slowly destroying him from within. One side of him (evidently what Gryffindor characteristics he had inherited from his parents) was trying to convince him to tell Scorpius the truth. It argued that he still had a good chance, that Scorpius hadn’t mentioned anything about Georgia or Valentine’s Day since that fateful lunch, that surely Scorpius, his best friend and sole companion for four years, who had been through hell and back for him, at least felt something for Albus.

Then there was the other, more prevalent side of Albus. The side that was scared, hurt, squashed and terrified of making things worse. This side of him argued, in a shrewd, hissing voice, that telling Scorpius the truth could drive him away forever, destroy their bond, cause him to lose the friendship that had been the one fantastically reliable thing Albus had had since he was eleven years old.

No, it was best to play it safe, he thought to himself. He was completely unaware that Scorpius had been attempting to talk with him for the better part of five minutes, absorbed as he was in his worries about driving his best friend away.

 

**1 Day**

 

“Albus Severus Potter, look at me right now and listen to what I have to say.”

Albus jerked his head up in surprise at the sound of Scorpius’s raised voice. He looked across the table at Scorpius, who was sitting in the armchair directly opposite him.

“I’m sorry?” he asked, slowly.

Scorpius looked him directly in the face, his eyes filled with concern and determination.

“Albus, I’ve been trying to talk to you for four days.  _Four days_. Something is wrong, you’re hiding something from me and I’m sick of watching it destroy you. I want you to talk to me right now, and tell me what’s the matter. Neither of us are going to leave this common room until I’m sure you’re not keeping anything dangerous locked up in that head of yours anymore.”

Albus stilled in his chair, his eyes not leaving Scorpius’s. He should have known that he couldn’t hide from Scorpius, he knew him too well, and he cared too much. But he couldn’t tell him, he couldn’t risk losing Scorpius forever. He couldn’t risk everything on the off chance he could gain everything.

“Albus, please,” said Scorpius, softly. “Please, talk to me.”

Albus clenched his fists and bit his lip, the battle in his head reaching a frenzied finale.

“I want to help. Please let me in.”

He let out a long, shuddering breath, unclenching his fists and closing his eyes. Making the decision lifted a weight off his shoulders that he didn’t know he had been carrying. He had to tell Scorpius, had to end this, one way or another.  This way, he would either win everything, or he would lose everything. The alternative was a guaranteed loss in every case, and therefore wasn’t an alternative at all.

Making the decision was the easy part, which terrified Albus because it had been far from easy.

“Scorpius-” He cleared his throat and took several deep breaths. Scorpius nodded encouragingly, but he was unable to hide the growing concern visible on his face.

“Scorpius, I’m – I’m gay,” said Albus, quietly.

Scorpius’s initial reaction was one of minor surprise. The concern vanished to be replaced by a look of confusion, which quickly relaxed into an expression that could only be described as caring.

“Hey, it’s okay!” he said. “It’s completely fine, you don’t have to be worried or ashamed about being gay Albus. I promise you, it doesn’t change anything.”

Albus swallowed thickly, the relief from Scorpius’s acceptance doing little to relieve the terror he felt when contemplating what he had to do next.

“There’s something else,” he said, his voice low. “And it might change things.”

“Albus, whatever you tell me won’t change the fact that you’re my best friend.  _Nothing_ you do can change the fact that I would suffer Voldemort Day a thousand times over if it meant keeping you safe and happy.”

He nodded, more to himself than to Scorpius, and took three more deep breaths, trying to slow his heartbeat to a reasonable pace.

“There’s someone I like. Someone I love, a lot.”

“Oh,” said Scorpius, looking down for the first time since their conversation had started. “Okay, can you tell me who? Have they hurt you?”

“He’s the nicest, most caring person I’ve ever met. He’s also the bravest, loyalest, and most kind-hearted person in the world. He also happens to be my best friend, who’s sitting in front of me right now, proving everything I just said about him to be true.”

He’d done it. It had been said. It was all over now. All he had to do now was sit there and wait for his sentence to fall.

Scorpius, for the first time in his life, seemed unable to form words. He simply sat there, looking at Albus, his expression unreadable. Then, “I’m so sorry.”

Albus closed his eyes, knowing what Scorpius would say next. That he couldn’t return Albus’s feelings, that he would never be able to look at him the same way ever again.

“I’m so sorry I hurt you, and I’m so sorry I never told you that I feel the same way.”

The hurriedly thought up excuses to leave the room died on Albus’s lips. He opened his eyes, hardly daring to believe what he had heard. 

“Say- say that again, please?” he stammered.

“I’ve felt the same way about you for months, but I never thought it was possible that you were like me.  I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

“But Rose – Georgia…”

“I – I think I’m bisexual, Albus. I like both. I thought I’d never be able to be with you in that way, so I forced myself to try and move on. I never really got the hang of it though. I cancelled my date with Georgia last night, it just felt wrong, the idea of going with her. All I could think about was you, and how you had been acting since I told you about her, and I think it showed because she kept saying how I wasn’t paying any attention to her. Girls are confusing, other boys are confusing, but I’ve always known you.”

Albus sat there, dumbfounded. The hard concrete in his stomach began to liquefy, and was gradually being replaced by something that felt like sunlight.

“Albus? Can I hug you?” asked Scorpius, tentatively.

Albus nodded, a glorious happiness spreading through his body, still in shock at the recent turn of events. He and Scorpius stood up, and Albus held out his arms, as if he were waiting for his owl companions to come and perch on them. Instead, he got Scorpius, and it was the best feeling in the world. 

It was similar to their previous hugs, but it was also very different. It was packed with so much emotion that Albus couldn’t help his face splitting into the biggest smile he had had in a long time. He pulled back slightly and noticed that Scorpius was mirroring his joy.

Albus laughed in relief and happiness. “Telling you those things was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I feel like I’ve just run up every tower in Hogwarts, then swum around the lake three times!” he said, grinning up at Scorpius.

“You look so much better,” Scorpius said in response. “Like you’ve just shed a load of worries the size of a Ukrainian Ironbelly.”

“Nerd," Albus muttered into Scorpius's shoulder, smiling widely.  He pulled away and looked up again, before softly saying, "I _feel_ so much better.”

“Albus?”

“Yeah?”

“What would you say if I asked you to come to Hogsmeade with me tomorrow, for Valentine’s Day?”

Albus gave a small hop and squeezed Scorpius’s middle, grinning up at him again. “I think I’d say YES!  Although hopefully in a more refined manner.”

Scorpius laughed. “Albus Potter, you can be as unrefined as you like, as long as you promise to be yourself, and stop hiding things from your boyfriend.”

Albus swayed slightly, desperately trying to take in and process the events of the last fifteen minutes. Eventually he decided not to worry about it right now, he would have plenty of time later.

“Are we boyfriends now?” he asked, wanting to be absolutely clear.

“If you want to be,” replied Scorpius.

“Then it’s a deal,” he said back. “As long as you promise not to keep secrets from _your_ boyfriend.”

“Done,” Scorpius sang, pulling Albus back into a tight hug, and Albus knew that the day he had been dreading for the past six days couldn’t come fast enough.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much for reading. This story comes from my own heart and mind, so was very difficult to put into words. I hope you enjoyed it, and as always, I would love a comment if you have time :)


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